"While the race for governor has dominated headlines and television commercials, voters will also be selecting five other constitutional officers to serve the commonwealth when they go the polls on November 6.
The race for treasurer features a candidate looking to expand the powers of the office, while his opposition looks to phase it out completely. Another contest pits arguably the most conservative member of the legislature against a young up-and-comer who served in the Patton administration for attorney general. The race for secretary of state puts the incumbent up against a relative political novice who has told supporters that, unlike his opponent, this is the highest office he will seek. The race for state auditor is a rematch of the 2003 race that was decided by 1.6 percent of the vote.
TREASURER
Republican Melinda Wheeler is running for treasurer with hopes of being the state's last person to hold that office. She has said the treasurer of the state does not have enough duties to justify a separate, elected office.
Wheeler, former head of the Administrative Office of the Courts, cites current treasurer Jonathan Miller's statements that he is still doing all the work of state treasurer while also serving as chairman of the state Democratic Party as proof that the post is obsolete.
Her Democratic opponent Todd Hollenbach is looking to strengthen the office, according to Democratic Party spokeswoman Allison Haley. "Todd's main initiatives are to keep the treasurer's office intact and push financial literacy in the state, especially for young people and military families."
Wheeler's spokesman, Brett Hall, said it would be nice to strengthen the office but, "the treasurer has no power and there is no way according to the constitution to empower the treasurer to do anything more than he or she does now."
"The general assembly just went about marginalizing the office without abolishing it. They abolished it practically in every way they could without a constitutional amendment (that would officially get rid of it). It only has $3.2 million a year in its operating budget and 33 employees, with seven of those being political appointees," he added.
Haley said the treasurer still serves an important role as an elected official, distributing taxpayer money and serving on commissions such as the lottery and teacher retirement.
"Melinda is arguing flawed logic She wants to abolish the office, but that is simply abolishing oversight of what the treasurer does," Haley said. "The job that the treasurer's office performs will still be there, and they will be diffused to other departments where there is not an elected official overseeing those offices."
SECRETARY OF STATE
The race for secretary of state looks to be the closest coming to election day, as incumbent Republican Trey Grayson is facing off against retired schoolteacher Bruce Hendrickson. According to Haley, Hendrickson will work on expanding the civics education program established in the office by Grayson, who Hendrickson criticizes for focusing more on education for college students than Kentuckians in high school. Grayson's office, however, has boasted the accomplishments of both the collegiate and grade school programs established to address electoral apathy across the state since taking office, in the form of mock elections and civic literacy curriculum.
Another of Hendrickson's main platforms, according to Haley, is preserving what is known as straight ticket voting, which allows a voter to cast a ballot for the entire slate of candidates in a political party with the push of just one button. Grayson, who is expected to have a close race in large part because of straight ticket voting, has pushed for the legislature to disallow the practice in three of his four legislative sessions in Frankfort.
In the summer of 2006, as Gov. Ernie Fletcher was under indictment for his role in the merit system hiring scandal, Grayson publicly toyed with challenging Fletcher for their party's nomination for governor. That move has inspired Hendrickson to criticize Grayson's motives in office as being for his political advancement and not for the best interest of Kentuckians. In that vein, Hendrickson has stated he will not seek an office higher than secretary of state, and Grayson has countered by essentially saying that acting in the best interest of Kentucky citizens will advance his political career.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
The battle for attorney general sees Lexington lawyer and state Rep. Stan Lee facing off with Louisville attorney and former Patton administration official Jack Conway. Both men have promised the establishment of an Internet crimes division within the office of attorney general to combat the number of cyber predators who seek sexual contact with minors and those who attempt to scam citizens out of money. Both have also said they will crackdown on the drug problem that plagues the state in the form of both unauthorized prescription drug use and methamphetamine abuse.
Lee, a staunch Republican, has been the most vocal public official in the state on immigration issues and has come out against current attorney general Greg Stumbo's opinion, which outlined ways public universities could extend medical benefits to employees with domestic partners while not violating the state's constitutional bar on same-sex marriage.
Conway said he will push for more funding for local law enforcement for the work they do in immigration issues and will provide guidelines of what can and can't be done in the detainment of a suspected illegal immigrants. Conway also has stated he believes marriage is a union between one man and one woman, but supported Stumbo's legal opinion that was requested, in part, by Lee.
AUDITOR
The race for state auditor in 2003 was settled by little more than 15,000 votes out of more than 1 million cast. This year, longtime Frankfort political figure and incumbent Crit Luallen will have to once again defeat Spencer County's Linda Greenwell to remain in office. Greenwell has argued that Luallen's political ties to Frankfort cloud her ability to perform the duties of state auditor. Luallen vehemently denies this claim and says her independence can be shown by the fact that 63 percent of the problem audits her office has referred to law enforcement have been the responsibility of Democratic officials.
For information on the race for agriculture commissioner, sign on to www.bizlex.com to read Business Lexington agriculture columnist Kara Keeton's interviews with Democratic candidate David Lynn Williams and Republican incumbent Richie Farmer."